


Illuminatingly Strengthening Part 1

by Dexiha



Series: Illuminatingly Strengthening [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 09:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13714911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dexiha/pseuds/Dexiha
Summary: Based ona post on Tumblrbycottoncandyofterror.Thank you Marshview for betaing! Best of the best!Features descriptions of Draco's nightmares after the war.





	Illuminatingly Strengthening Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rated because of dark feelings.

Most people had seen how Draco had changed sides at the last minute and thrown Harry his wand during the battle of Hogwarts. Therefore, his return to Hogwarts for his eighth year had been quiet and not many people still held any relevant grudges against him or caused any trouble. How ironic was it, that while he didn’t get hexed or even kicked by others, he managed to cause his downfall all on his own? It had been during an Eighth Years Only Quidditch practice that he had screwed up.

As usual, he had been daydreaming about Potter (how could he not when his saviour was soaring through the air as elegantly as ever?) instead of searching for the snitch, when he got hit by two bludgers at the same time. One smacked him in the head and the other pummeled his stomach. This caused him to become quite disoriented (okay, he was practically falling unconscious, but he would never admit that) and he truly had some problems with breathing. When he pulled himself back together using every ounce of Malfoy-ingrained grit, he finally sighted the snitch not too far away. He raced toward it, all the while trying not to fall off his broom. Without thinking (obviously), he willed his broom to fly forwards and, _yes! He managed to catch it!_ but… unfortunately, just behind the little winged ball was a tree… which he plunged right into. Before everything went completely black, he saw how Harry Potter crashed into the tree as well, though _he_ wasn’t flying to catch the snitch. Potter was trying to save Draco. At least that’s what Draco hoped.

Without opening his eyes, Draco knew he was someplace where he didn’t feel secure. He could feel the vulnerability of his whereabouts in the very centre of his bones, and it caused him to shiver heavily while his heart drummed faster and faster for each second that passed. He opened his eyes. It was so dark. Too dark. Where the fuck was he? Suddenly, a white light appeared in front of him, but it wasn’t a light to be trusted. He _knew_ that. Yet he found himself walking towards it, unable to stop or turn around. The light started to move towards him as well, and as it came closer it also grew stronger, brighter. Eventually, it was strong enough to illuminate the walls of the hallway in which he stood. The light thereby revealed the portraits that hung upon the hallway walls; portraits of Draco’s relatives. All of them were shouting about what a disgrace he had become to the Malfoys and the Blacks. Among the many voices there was one clearer than all the others; the voice of his father. It was voicing words that never actually had been spoken, yet were the words Draco feared the most (well, next after the four words that had been said by the Dark Lord: “Harry Potter is dead”): _How could you fail me like this, Draco? How could you betray us all in these darkest of times? That is not the way of a Malfoy._ You _are not a Malfoy. How could you be when you’re not my son?_ The words were untrue, Draco knew, for his father had only begged for Draco’s forgiveness before he was to be shipped to Azkaban, but that fact seemed unreliable with his father’s voice shouting so hatefully at him.

Desperate to quell the voices, Draco clutched his hands to his ears, to no avail. The shouts were too loud, he started to scream to drown them out, but that didn’t work either. Suddenly, a moment came when everything went completely quiet. Draco opened his eyes, which he hadn’t realized he had closed, and looked straight into a pair of red, snakelike oculi. _Oh, no_ was all his mind could think before the voice of Voldemort shouted _crucio_ and he was blasted by never-ending pain. It went on forever and Draco started to feel how every fiber in his body was giving up, one by one. He was becoming a nothing in nowhere. No one would know what had happened, or where to find him, and he would be gone forever. Just as he felt the definite emptiness surround him, he felt something reaching for him. A strong force took hold of him and pulled him through the surface of his desolation.

Draco took a deep, desperate breath, as if he had been under water for just beyond his limit. While gasping for air, he tried to get his brain to function properly and to be able to see where he was and what was happening. It took quite some time, but eventually the forms around him got clearer contours, little by little. The first thing that his eyes were able to focus on were the two green irises belonging to the pained and worried boy standing in front of him. Slowly, his mind helped him to identify them as the eyes of Harry Potter.

Potter was here. Draco had only been dreaming. He wasn’t lost in the dark corridors of Malfoy Manor, nor was he being tortured by the Dark Lord. He was safe in the infirmary. Draco was here, Potter was here and they were both alive. They were still real. Yet, these thoughts didn’t make any real sense to Draco. He searched for something to reassure him that this was the reality. He found himself reaching out to grab Potter’s shoulders to pull him into an embrace. He simply had to know that this was really happening. When the other boy mirrored the hug, Draco could feel his heart beating and he breathed in Potter’s scent. Hiding his face in Potter’s hair, he knew for sure that it was true. This was real.


End file.
